KARACHI, May 1: The executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) on Wednesday said that chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-N Mian Nawaz Sharif had announced Rs300,000 compensation for each family member affected by the Baldia garment factory fire, but he had still not fulfilled this promise despite the passage of several months.

PILER chief Karamat Ali also expressed concern over shifting of industries to other countries and said that it was injustice with workers and this trend should be stopped because thousands of labourers had been deprived of jobs in a few years.

He expressed these views while addressing a press conference organised by the Sindh Hosiery and Garment Workers General Union in collaboration with Piler and Labour Education Foundation on World Labour Day at the Karachi Press Club.

“A team of international lawyers will approach the court after the general elections 2013 against the institution that had permitted the Ali Enterprises to operate in violation against labour laws,” he added.

He called for proper health safety laws for workers at national and provincial levels and demanded that labourers were trained in health safety measures at workplace.

He urged labourer organisations to work jointly for betterment of workers, while investors and proprietors should give maxim facilities to their employees.

Meanwhile, Piler in a statement issued on May Day, stressed the need for observing Labour Day ‘beyond symbolism’.

The statement pointed out that International Labour Day 2013 had special significance for Pakistan as the country was moving ahead to a fresh round of elections after completing a full term of a democratically-elected government.

“All mainstream political parties contesting the polls have announced their election manifestos, and their agendas for labour are critical indication of their future direction towards a pro-people regime.”

The statement added that the labour agendas, however, were devoid of “a genuine representation of workers’ interest”.— Agencies